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Who uses a floating lift (e.g. hydrohoist, etc)


fever5

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Just wondering who uses a floating lift for their Bu (like hydrohoist)? Also wondering if anyone uses these lifts where water freezes?

If anyone could tell me about their experience using them, and why they think they're great or a waste of money, would be appreciated.

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Just wondering who uses a floating lift for their Bu (like hydrohoist)? Also wondering if anyone uses these lifts where water freezes?

If anyone could tell me about their experience using them, and why they think they're great or a waste of money, would be appreciated.

My last two boats have lived permanently on a floating lift, although, because of the shallow depths

of the lake I'm on now, most of my friends use electric cable lifts.

The floating style lift drops the boat into the water in two phases: 1) when enough

air is bled from the tanks and the pontoons can no longer support the boats weight,

it drops to water level; and 2) when enough air is bled from the tanks that the pontoons

actually submerge, dropping away from the bottom of the boat. It is only after

phase two that the boat is free-floating.

We had some serious double-digit rains up at the lake last spring and summer. We also get some

very brisk gusting winds from time to time. The advantage to the hydrohoist-style lift in both cases

is that they are anchored to the marina and will not allow the boat to sway side-to-side in a big

wind, and they bob up and down with the marina when waves roll through.

By contrast, a buddy of mine on a cable lift, during those same storms, when the edge of his

boat cover blew back enough to allow rain water to begin to fill the stern of his boat, had one

of his cables

break under the strain of the excess weight, dropping the back end of his water-logged boat into

the water. In the process, the rear brace rolled under and steel brackets plunged up into the

bottom of his boat producing two pretty good gouges through the gelcoat.

If the same were to happen on a floating lift, it would keep the boat up until the weight of the

boat plus water in the boat exceeded it's capacity. It would then drop down into the water

but would still hold the boat, albeit at water-level now. It would still keep it centered on the lift,

preventing side-to-side movement, and it would still bob up and down with waves/rollers.

The only down side I've experienced so far to the hydrohoist-style lift was determining how far

forward in the slip I need to position the boat. I trashed a prop the first year when I pulled

too far forward. As the boat lifts out of the water, my lift has a large bracket with large bolts

that roll upwards. With my boat forward in the slip/on the lift, it's possible for that bracket

to roll directly under the prop so that the bolts actually contact the blades. The prop blades, not

the bunks, then briefly support the weight on the boat as it rises, until, of course, they break.

Sorry, I have no experience with freezing water. No, wait, I'm not really sorry. I just don't have

any advice on that topic!

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i have a floating lift, but not the hydrohoist. I have an AirDock. its the only kind allowed on our river. i used to have a "rigid" lift, similar to a shore station. Both have their advantages.

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our lake freezes, anywhere from 1 inch to 6 inches thick. It comes and goes all winter long. This was our first winter, we had the dock installed last fall but the lift is going in next week. I bit the bullet and purchased a de-icer. They are expensive for what they are. But very effective. I purchased the 1/2 hp model from Kasco Marine. I have to say it works very well, keeping about a 40 foot radius clear of ice.

Its prob. much colder where you are, so look at the 3/4 or 1 hp model. It should keep your lift and dock free from freeze.

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